Skip to content
Sign In
All KJV Words

Archaic KJV Word

Offering

Modern equivalent: financial donation

What Was Lost

The approach. Qorban from qarav -- to draw near. An offering was not fundraising but the means of approaching God. You brought something valuable and gave it up so that you could come close. 'The offering of the body of Jesus Christ' meant His body was the qorban that opened permanent access to God's presence for all humanity.

Closest Survivor in Modern English

offering (still used in worship services but the drawing-near dimension is buried under the collection plate)

Peak Usage (1611)

KJV Psalm 96:8 -- 'Bring an offering, and come into his courts'; Hebrews 10:10 -- 'The offering of the body of Jesus Christ'

Died still used but genericized (~1900)

Hebrew qorban ('that which draws near/the gift that enables approach to God') genericized into 'money collected in church.' The relational drawing-near theology was replaced by financial collection.

What Replaced It

collection

Financial gathering; the offering was the means of drawing near to God's presence

donation

Charitable giving; an offering was an act of worship that opened access to God

contribution

Organizational support; the offering was personal and relational -- bringing something of yours into God's presence

Related KJV Words